The Boycott Israeli Goods campaign is planning a mass picket of the depot on Saturday February 10th at 1pm in opposition to the sale of Israeli goods and in support of Palestinian farmers who are not able to market their goods internationally

The aim is to draw attention to this companys sale of flowers from occupied Palestinian land on Valentines day. We are asking the British public not to buy blood stained flowers for their loved ones this year.

Carmel Agrexco is the largest importer of illegal settlement goods into the UK. The Valentines day period is one of their busiest as the company deals with large amounts of fresh flowers from Israel and the settlements.

In the UK Agrexco is known under the Carmel, Coral and Jaffa brands. The UK is the most important foreign market for Israeli fresh produce. Agrexco exports a wide range of produce to the UK including peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, spices, flowers and avocadoes.

Agrexco is the largest exporter of settlement produce for sale overseas. Much of this produce comes from colonies in the Jordan Valley. Carmel Agrexco have had dealings with the colonies of Tomer, Mehola, Hamra, Ro’i, Massua, Patzael, Mekhora, Netiv Ha-Gdud and Bet Ha-Arava.

Previously there have been three blockades of this company stopping work at the factory. The company persistently refuses to press charges against the activists because they are scared of having to prove the legality of their business in open court.

This follows from actions of 11th November 2004, when Palestine-Solidarity
protesters from London and Brighton were arrested after taking part in non-violent blockades outside the same company and 30 August 2006, when demonstrators blockaded the company for 11 hours and no arrests were made.

In September 2005, a Judge ruled that Agrexco (UK) must prove that their business is
lawful. The acquittal of the seven activists before they were able to present their
defence meant that the court did not have to rule on the legality of Agrexco-Carmels involvement in the supply of produce from illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In September 2006 protesters blockaded the company again, Carmel refused to have demonstrators arrested because this would have lead to another embarrassing court appearance where their business methods would have been investigated by a British court of law.

The valentines day picket aims to expose this companys complicity in murder, theft and damage of occupied land, collective punishment, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and other breaches of International Law to public scrutiny.

2. On 9th June 2005 a coalition of Palestinian Civil Society Organisations
issued a Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until
it complies with International Law.
See http://www.stopthewall.org/downloads/pdf/BDSEnglish.pdf for the full
statement and signatories.

3. Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights in 1967 in
contravention of international law.

Since then Israel has moved over 380,000 settlers into these occupied
territories in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention (article 49),
the Hague Regulations and United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

Israel continues to build an illegal apartheid wall inside the West Bank
despite the Advisory Ruling of the International Court of Justice in 2005
that the wall is illegal. Fifty five illegal Israeli settlements will be
on the Israeli side of the wall separated from the West Bank.

Since 2000 Israel has demolished 628 Palestinian houses, home to 3, 983
people, in acts of collective punishment. These demolitions constitute a
war crime. (Above statistics confirmed by Israeli Information Centre
Btselem see http://www.btselem.org)

3, 808 Palestinians have been killed as a direct result of Israeli
military actions and 29, 456 injured during the current upraising which
began in September 2000.